On the Scale of Osiris
by InferiorBeing
Summary: KarKur Come follow me this night, my Grave will give you Light. Kurama is receiving notes from a mysterious sender and a new student at school has him remembering a certain entrant of the Dark Tournament. But Karasu is dead right? Finished!
1. The nightingale takes wing

_Author's Note:_

_Okay, I have been looking over Nightmare of Forever and I just can't expand it. I apologize to those who desperately wanted me to write more on it, but it wasn't even meant to be more than a oneshot and as it stands it's a... twoshot(?). But this story will hopefully satisfy all that. It is written in the same style of Nightmare of Forever, which by the way is called "gothic". Enjoy all!_

**Disclaimer:** See the "fan" before the "fiction"? Does that give you a clue? Don't own it, most likely never will. Which, now that I think about it is probably a good thing...

**Rating:** PG-13, mostly for leeway in writing, probably more for gore than for physical graphicness.

**Pairing:** Karasu/Kurama

**Warnings: **Obviously, this is m/m, slash, yaoi, whatever you call it. Don't like, don't read. This is written in what is called "gothic style" which is the style of ghost stories and horror and all that. This will not be a horror story but it could be seen as a ghost story if you try to see it that way. Anyway, it's dark, so if you don't like the shivers when you read... tough the style will not change.

**Summery:** **_AU after the Dark Tournament _**(almost an alternate ending type thing, but not really). _"The nightingale takes wing, it's special song to sing, Come follow me this night, my Grave will give you Light." _Kurama is receiving notes from a mysterious sender and a new student at school has him remembering a certain entrant of the Dark Tournament. But Karasu is dead right???

**On the Scale of Osiris**

_Chapter One: The nightingale takes wing..._

Koenma often found himself in difficult positions, but this one was one of the worst yet. The toddler ruler sat at his desk almost at a loss for words, watching the almost delicate looking human in front of him. Well, at least on the outside he looked human.

The human in question looked to be in his late teens, slender and tall, with an almost delicate look. Almost. Long strands of blond hair fell around his shoulders and back looking like the silken hair of a doll. The boy was dressed entirely in black leather which contrasted his almost vampiric shade of skin and hair. His eyes were darker than the black of the leather, orbs of darkness that one could easily drown in.

He watched Koenma with amusement in these eyes, as if he was already two steps ahead. Koenma didn't like that look, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"I don't know how you did it, and I probably don't want to know." Koenma said finally.

The teen smiled, a smile that many had seen right before their deaths. And it made Koenma shiver.

"Aren't you going to welcome me back, Koenma?" he said, and Koenma knew that he was being mocked.

"I would be careful what boundaries you step over." Koenma observed, "You're not a demon anymore."

"Then why have me brought before you?"

"Because you're unpredictable." came the simple answer. "Demon or not, you are still dangerous Karasu."

One of Karasu's eyebrows quirked in amusement. "You don't know that, Koenma, and _that_ is why I'm here. You don't know if I'm harmless, or if I'm more dangerous than I was in the Dark Tournament, and it scares you. But what's worse, for you, is that you don't know if I really am a human, or... if I'm the demon I was before my death in a very good disguise."

"Then would you care to enlighten me?" Koenma asked testily, knowing that Karasu was right.

"No." Karasu smiled again. "I'll let you figure it out yourself."

Koenma frowned. Had he even for a minute thought that Karasu would work with him? Not really. But it had been nice to hope. "Then I think you'll understand if I ask you to remain somewhere where I can keep an eye on you." Or, he added in his mind, eight eyes to be exact.

Karasu smirked. "In translation, you're ordering me to remain in the general area near your pet detective so that if I step out of line you can drag me back to the hell I was in. Am I correct?"

"Perfectly."

Karasu seemed to ponder this for a few seconds and Koenma could see something snap in his eyes, a look which Koenma didn't like at all. 

"All right then. I'll play your game Koenma." Karasu turned to leave the room but paused when he had opened the door. "But I hope you don't mind if I play a game of my own while I'm at it." Karasu turned back to look at Koenma once again and Koenma almost shivered under the look. Then Karasu was gone, and with him the aura of death that seemed to surround him. 

Koenma sighed. Why did he have the feeling that he had just made a grave error? Then he realized what Karasu had implied and groaned. He would have to have a long discussion with Yuseke... and maybe Hiei too.

Karasu was over all, quite pleased with how his meeting with Koenma had gone. He still felt less imposing in this frail body, but he would only have to be like _this _ for so long and that would be long enough. Yes, Karasu could stay in this form for as long as it took, but there was no time like the present after all.

Karasu walked along the streets, ignoring all of the admiring looks of the idiotic humans. Pathetic really, all of them. Only one "human" was worth his time. And that one was currently inside the school that Karasu stood in front of. Now here was a waste of time. School. Pointless. Humans didn't live long enough to prosper from this so called education. But it was something that he was going to have to deal with if he was going to do things correctly. And Karasu never did something incorrectly.

An innocent smile and a polite question later, Karasu was admitted to the office of the... what had that secretary woman called him? Dean of Students? Whatever. In the long run it didn't really matter.

The Dean was a present enough man to look at, for a middle aged human, but he was nothing spectacular in the looks or intellegence departments, something which would work to Karasu's advantage.

"What can I do for you young man?"

Karasu had to keep from flinching. Young man? He was at least twice as old as this human's _grandfather_. But that wasn't important right now.

"I would like to transfer to your school. Tomorrow." Karasu's silken voice spoke, laced with an invisible poison.

"Well I'm sorry, but that can't be done-" The man broke off as Karasu dropped a pile of coins on the mans desk gracefully, yet unceremoniously. Karasu watched in satisfaction as his eyes widened. Golden coins, an inch thick... and was it yet mentioned that they were pure gold?

"I believe that would more than triple the tuition." Karasu put in smoothly. "Don't worry about the grades, I can cover that."

Karasu knew that he was not being clear to the Dean as to whether he would be a perfect student or if he would bribe the teachers as well, but Karasu had spoken those words specifically for that effect.

"Welcome to our school, Mr. ?"

"Corvus*."

"-Mr. Corvus. Come with me for a moment and we'll make a transcript for you." Karasu smiled again, that charismatic smile that just seemed to belong on the face of a killer. Yes, this would be done _perfectly_. 

Rumors had been flying around the school since lunchtime, Kurama noticed. Not that he had listened to them. But one couldn't help hearing the frantic whispers that filtered around the hallways and classrooms.

"I heard he's transferring from somewhere really far away-"

"I actually saw him! Dark black eyes-"

"Dressed in black leather too, oh my god-"

"God is right, if you mean walking sex god-"

"I heard his hair is even longer than Minamino!"

And they went on and on. Kurama was a bit annoyed at the entire thing by the time he had heard all the rumors three or four times before the end of the school day, as well as the rest of the male population of the school. Kurama had finally just started tuning the whispers out, it wasn't as if he was going to hear anything new. Making his way to his locker he hurriedly worked his way around the combination lock. Placing the books he didn't need for homework inside he almost missed the white square of paper. But when he did see it, the one line of calligraphy caught his attention.

_The Nightingale takes wing..._

Kurama frowned. This note was obviously incomplete as of yet and it was unlike any other notes he had gotten before. Surprisingly, Kurama was intrigued. At least whoever had sent this had creativity, unlike those other flirtatious wastes of time that he had found in this very locker before. The card was, of course, unsigned, but when Karasu turned it to the backside his blood ran cold at the small picture there. It was the form of a creature that he couldn't look at the same way anymore, not after the Dark Tournament and that fight...

It was the unmistakable figure of a crow.

to be continued

*Corvus - Latin for "raven" (would have done the Latin word for crow, but it didn't sound as good)

**Here's the deal: 7-9 reviews from you all (they can be really short, I just want to see who is reading this) and I give you all the next chapter within two days from receiving the reviews!**

_signed,_

_Rio the FlowerofBlackFire_


	2. Its special song to sing

_Author's Note:_

_Okay, let's try this again and hopefully it will work correctly this time..._

_I am going to take this moment to remind people that while I have endevored to keep this PG-13, it is verrrrry PG-13, more on the R side than on the PG side, if you know what I mean. It's written like a ghost story for the sake of all that's holy! So if you don't like it, please don't tell me and move on._

_Oh, and if you want to read the "uncut" R rated version of this it can be found at adultfanfiction(dot net). My pen-name there is FlowerofBlackFire as well, so just serch for that and you'll find it easily. What is posted here is the cut version, if you will, of the story there... still spooky just not rated R (but it's close)._

**On the Scale of Osiris**

_Chapter Two: It's special song to sing..._

Karasu didn't sleep that night. He just didn't feel like it, and sleeping was needless most of the time anyway. So he had watched the inhabitants of his "home" for the entire night, occasionally drinking a glass of vodka or some other fermented beverage. Karasu's "home" was not one a human would call home in any form of the word. The idea of "home is where the heart is" had never been thought of or shared with Karasu, and if it had he wouldn't have cared enough to do anything about it. No, Karasu's place of residence was a club. It was nameless and its location was only circulated around the underground of the city. There were no bouncers because if one was... daring enough to get the location of the club from someone else, or smart enough to find it on their own, they were allowed in. Karasu was rather surprised at how clean the place was when he had first found it, since it attracted many unruly denizens and no one batted an eye if the person next to them dropped dead from poison in his drink (most probably because they had been the one to slip said poison into the drink). Karasu had pictured more of a club which he had been known to frequent in the Makai, one with blood painting the walls and obscene acts in every corner. Well, he had gotten the obscene acts right, but not the blood. It was the one downside of the club, Karasu had decided, the lack of blood.

The club never slept really. There was about an hour during the day when there were only two or three customers (two in the afternoon) and then the place livened up again. Karasu had watched how the management of the club worked for a few days before approaching the manager of the place about a permanent room for a few months or so. Like the Dean of Students, the human had fallen to the sin of greed easily, not even bothering to ask where Karasu had gotten the gold. That had been fine with Karasu, the museum wouldn't miss the gold anyway.

So Karasu had come to an... understanding of sorts with the manager. He did what he felt like and had the only key to his room, and in return the manager got to keep his life and all the gold (which would, if sold on the black market,be enough to set him on easy street for the rest of his and his grandchildren's lives). It was because of this understanding that when Karasu was approached by slightly intoxicated customers and dispatched them whatever manner he chose, no one cared.

Karasu looked down at the mess of flesh and bone and blood that was the reason he had gotten on this trail of thought anyway, when he should have been analyzing exactly how tomorrow would work. Karasu sneered at the corpse and glanced at the drink which he had tainted with the victim's blood. He swirled the mixture for a few seconds before taking a sip, wincing internally at the blandness of it all. Demon blood tasted so much better than human.

"How's it taste hon?"

Karasu looked up to see another denizen of the bar, one that he recognized as a frequent customer, a redhead. She was dressed all in leather... well what parts of her were clothed were covered in leather, and at one side of her hip was a coiled bull whip.

"Why don't you tell me?" Karasu spoke, tipping half of the contents of his drink into her empty glass and then moving off to another secluded spot of the bar. His former one was getting to crowded.

Kurama had succeeded in forgetting all about the supposed new student that night, finishing what homework he had left and then, surprisingly, pouring over the note. That night, his dreams had been full of flashbacks to the Dark Tournament, of _that _fight. But they never seemed to end the way the fight had in real life, no always he was the one on the ground at the end, and not the demon who stood watching his blood seep into the stone of the arena with an insane look akin to joy.

But the arrival of the new student came flooding back as he entered the school yard. The demon part of him groaned. Was all this really necessary? It was just another student after all. There was no need for all the girls to wear more makeup than usual, and even some of the teachers were more on edge. Kurama concentrated on making his way to his seat without hearing the excited murmurs. They didn't know anything factual yet after all.

The teacher had a hard time controlling everyone, he noticed, but what silenced everyone in the end was not the teacher's doing, it was the arrival of the "new" student.

The room got very quiet, almost painfully quiet from the bustle before, as everyone seemed to freeze in their seats. Kurama himself almost yelped. It was as if Karasu's ghost had decided to haunt him for the rest of his life. Or at least, that's what it looked like. But then Kurama began to see slight differences between the human at the front of the room and the demon who's life he had ended. Karasu had been much taller, and more imposing than the almost frail looking creature standing there. But the resemblance between the two was uncanny, the same hair, eyes, even demeanor.

"Class I would like to introduce to you a new student. This is Karric Corvus."

Definitely not Karasu's reincarnation then, Kurama thought, forgetting the logic that if Karasu had been reborn as a human he would be less than one year old right now. No, had Karasu somehow fused into a human body, his name would tie somehow to "crow", Kurama was sure of it. Kurama even entertained the thought that Karasu would not change his name at all, just to push the point that Kurama hadn't gotten rid of him. No, this Corvus, whoever he was, was named after the raven, not the crow. And at this point Kurama realized that the whole thought process he had just gone through was completely irrelevant because Koenma would have told him the minute Karasu's spirit wasn't where it was supposed to be. Of course Kurama ignored the chagrin that he was feeling at having to rationalize that Karasu was dead and was going to remain dead. He was just on edge, that's all. He was just making coincidences out to be more than they were.

The teacher meanwhile was now looking for someone to show Karasu, or to her Karric, around the school. Ignoring the volunteers from most of the female population, and even a few males, her eyes settled on the so called prize student of the school.

"I think Minamino could show you around for today." she said warmly. "You can sit in the empty desk next to him."

Kurama at one time had praised the idea of a seating chart, which had given him space from the female population of the school which had almost declared World War III to decide who would sit in the desk next to him on the first day of school that year, but now he suddenly wished that a ditzy prep had been given that spot.

Karasu pointedly did not engage Kurama very much during the day. It seemed that his appearance had startled the kitsune enough for today. Not that Kurama noticed this small blessing very much, because of how startled he had been. 

No, Kurama spent the day coming up with reasons why his chief nightmare could not be happening, and then started coming up with reasons for why he should be coming up with reasons to begin with. If the teachers noticed that their normal star student was a bit out of it, they didn't say anything, yet another small blessing that Kurama hadn't noticed. 

It wasn't until the end of the school day that Kurama was again brought headlong back to thoughts of Karasu. After dropping his books in his locker and closing it he turned to leave, only to be interrupted by Karasu's look-a-like whose locker was only three lockers away from his.

"Minamino, this fell out of your locker." Karric said simply, handing Kurama a small white card that had indeed fluttered to the floor.

"Thank you." Kurama said softly, trying not to look at the crow's image, a black disfiguration of the white of the paper. 

Karasu noticed the fox turn a few shades whiter as he saw the note. Good, at least the fox's subconscious was beginning to work out what was going on.

After Karric had left, Kurama turned the card over quickly.

_The nightingale takes wing,_

_its special song to sing..._

Kurama now sat looking at the note late that night. It was yet again, incomplete and, as of now, Kurama had no clue as to what the sender was trying to imply with these notes. He was so engrossed in the unknown that he barely looked up when a small black blur entered his window and landed gracefully on the floor.

"You should be sleeping Kurama, its after midnight." Hiei said shortly.

"How was your meeting with Koenma?" Kurama asked, putting the note on the desk, next to the first one, and turning to look at Hiei.

Hiei didn't answer for a while. "Koenma's on edge." he said at last.

"There's something going on?" Kurama asked. "Why wasn't I informed?"

Hiei bit his lip. "I can't tell you Kurama. You're not the only one who doesn't know, but I can't tell you."

Karasu sat looking at what he was sure was the stupidest thing humans had come up with yet. Dissection. Now, Karasu wasn't against dissection, no he was fine with splitting someone in half and taking out their heart while it was still beating, but the dissection of _frogs? _What was the point of that? Groaning internally at the pointlesness of it all, Karasu picked up the biology book with one hand and walked out to the back rooms of club, passing the bar on his way and ordering a glass of rum. One couldn't concentrate on frivolous human things if one was sober, now could you?

Karasu maneuvered his way into his room and laid the book on the small desk inside. He placed the glass down next to the book and removed from its inconspicuous place in the room a dager which he had aquired earlier that afternoon. Calmly Karasu slit open his finger letting the blood drip into the rum, turning the liquid a muddy blood color. Karasu idly licked the blood off his hand his eyes wandering down the page to the questions that the biology teacher expected him to have answered for the next day.

"Question 1. What is the purpose of dissection?" Karasu chuckled at these words, he doubted the teacher expected students to answer in the way he would. Karasu opened the desk drawer which was protected by another key, and removed a gray mask that was identical to the one he had worn in the Dark Tournament. He placed this in its proper position, covering his nose and mouth, and sighed in relief as he let go of the spell that cloaked him in a human form. His hair switched from bright blond to dark black, his form growing in height, the prominent demonic features replacing the subtle human ones. The human clothes that had been loose on him in a human form now hugged his body in the way that most of his normal clothing was designed to do. But the best part was the control. Karasu hated the fact that as a human he felt all the power running through him as it did whenever he did not wear his mask, and yet he was powerless to do anything with it. Oh, well, the ends justified the means, right? Karasu thought the human phrase was appropriate for this occasion.

It was only after Hiei left that Kurama could fully analyze the words that the fire demon had spoken. And when he did, he came to a horrible conclusion. If he was not informed that something was going to happen to someone else, then obviously that something was going to happen to him. It was unsettling to say the least, but what was even worse for him was that if he followed the path his brain seemed to be trying to take, the entire thing began to make some twisted sense. But he didn't like where he came out when following that logic. Because inevitably it came out to the same thing every time, symbolized perfectly by the black image on white paper, the image of a crow.

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reviewing, all those who did. The same deal with this chapter you know... 7-9 reviews and you get another chapter within two days. See you then!

Oh and a special note to Ish - no there will not be any Hiei/Kurama, because if I started with that the story would not end up Karasu/Kurama and that is my goal. ^.^ So no worries!


	3. Come follow me this night

**On the Scale of Osiris**

_Chapter Three: Come follow me this night..._

It wasn't often that Hiei found himself going to Koenma's office voluntarily... actually, it happened so rarely that he could never remember doing it until now. But yet, here he was, standing voluntarily before Koenma.

"What you're saying doesn't make any sense Hiei." Koenma spoke at last.

Hiei rolled his eyes. Of course it didn't make any sense, that was why he was here after all. If things did make sense he would have killed Karasu off and been done with it!

"Are you sure these are the only two notes he sent Kurama?" Koenma asked at last, gesturing to the two squares of paper on his desk, turned so the verse sides were showing.

"Positive."

Koenma looked at the notes, frowning. He sighed. "And you found these?"

"Locked in Kurama's dresser."

Neither said anything, but both were wondering the same thing. What was Kurama's view on all of this? "He obviously didn't want anyone to know about these." Koenma said at last.

"Obviously."

"And if he was that interested in this... poem, I guess one could call it, then we can only assume that he will be trying to find out what the poem means."

Hiei nodded.

"And that will eventually lead him to Karasu."

Hiei didn't have to nod, this deduction was one he had made himself.

Koenma looked at Hiei closely. "You have to beat him to it, Hiei. Find out what Karasu means by this poem and make sure nothing happens. You won't find the answer here, Hiei. This poem isn't one created in the Makai."

"You know the rest of it then?"

"It's fairly famous, for humans. I'm surprised that Kurama hasn't found it yet."

"What is it then?"

"It's a poem Hiei, four lines long. And it can be found on an island outside of Venice, a small island called "the Island of the Dead"... on a grave stone."

Hiei for his credit, didn't look all that shocked at the information Koenma had just given him. "And what does it say?"

"Just as on the card, Hiei. 'The Nightingale takes wing, its special song to sing, Come follow me this night, My grave will give you light."

"But Karasu does not have a grave." Hiei pointed out.

"Exactly. He does not have a grave... because he is not dead."

Hiei's eyes did widen. Now everything fell into place, like pieces to a human puzzle. "I have to talk to Kurama." And the fire demon flitted away without another word.

"Yes, Hiei, you do have to speak to Kurama. Before he goes back to the site of the Dark Tournament." Koenma spoke to the empty room. He sat back in his chair. "This would have been so much easier if Karasu was a nice, simple, demon, but no, he has to be sadistic, evil, and tricky." Koenma groaned. Nothing was ever simple.

Hiei was almost outside Kurama's school when he stopped. Someone was watching him, someone who seemed to be human but there was just something wrong about the way they felt to him. As Hiei neared the school he stopped, seeing the figure waiting for him, just outside school grounds.

"Karasu."

The human raised a golden eyebrow. "Koenma has better judgment than I thought, if he chose to tell you instead of Yusuke."

"Yusuke knows, but he has no choice to wait until you do something stupid. I have no such restriction."

"You are going to tell Kurama that I exist." the statement was a question and now Hiei was forced to a crossroads. Looking at the other demon, Hiei began to ponder if he should really go that far. 

"I don't know." he finally said.

"Why not?" the human Karasu started walking away from the school, knowing that Hiei would follow.

"You still pose to much of a mystery." Hiei said slowly.

"It's not like you to be this open." 

"It's not like you to take this much effort for something as simple as a rematch."

"And how do you know that? I went through quite a bit of effort before our first fight, why should this be any different?"

"Because you don't intend to fight him, not this time."

Karasu stopped walking for a few minutes and looked at the black shadow of the fire demon. He started walking again after a few seconds. "You're very perceptive." a pause, "I find it interesting that you haven't used that as a reason to kill me right from the start."

Hiei was suddenly in front of Karasu, making the "human" stop short. "Kurama's human body will not last forever, and sooner than he seems to believe he will be thrown back into the life of a demon. His human feelings will then hinder him."

"Agreed."

"And you know what keeps him here? Love." Hiei spat the word out like poison. "Love for that human mother of his. That emotion will prove to be his greatest weakness." It was Hiei now who started walking, a direction that both Hiei and Karasu knew... toward Kurama's house. "I find it revolting, this emotion. Friendship-," another poisonous word, "-is bad enough when it comes to weakness, and yet sometimes it has proven to serve a purpose. But this endearing love for his mother has always revolted me as I have never been able to understand it. Yet, now, I find something that Kurama may hold more dear... if it is something that he is hiding from his human mother." Hiei looked at the being next to him. "The notes you leave for Kurama he locks away like treasures, where he knows his mother would not pry. I would not have found them, except that I was ordered to search for anything relating to you."

"For someone who does not care for these human emotions, such as love, you seem to care greatly for Kurama's safety."

Hiei smirked. "You, of all demons, should know the answer to that. You know as well as I do, the stories of Yoko Kurama. Friendship is a price I am willing to pay to ensure that when Yoko Kurama returns to the Makai, I can count on that power as my ally." Hiei looked Karasu over carefully, as if making the last calculations for his decision. "I will talk to Kurama, but you're existence will remain something for you alone to disclose to him when you deem it the proper time."

"There is only one more line to the poem." Karasu spoke softly. "You will not have to wait long."

Hiei nodded before flitting away. 

Kurama sat at his desk, yet another square of white paper having his complete attention.

_"The Nightingale takes wing,_

_It's special song to sing,_

_Come follow me this night,"_

Closer to completion, yet not there yet. Kurama frowned, flipping the card over and looking closely at the same crow inscription on the back. Did he really hope these were somehow from Karasu? He now knew that the Yoko inside him did, but if the human Kurama wanted Karasu back from the dead was another story. Karasu murdered, Karasu destroyed, Karasu was in league with those who had wanted to open a portal to the human world and destroy all humankind. Yet, so had Hiei at one time, maybe he still wanted to, and Kurama had found himself wanting to befriend the fire demon. But his feelings which had prevailed even after Karasu's death towards the Quest Class were different. The human Kurama had never encountered such feelings before, and the Yoko Kurama had not felt such feelings in a long, long, time.

"Kurama."

Kurama started, turning to face Hiei. "What is it Hiei?"

"You have some explaining to do."

Kurama's eyes shifted to the two white cards that Hiei held out to him in his hand. "Where did you find those?"

"In the same place you locked them up."

"And you looked through my dresser..."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Does it really matter? You wouldn't have cared before, and yet this causes you to fear." Kurama cursed mentally, he had forgotten briefly about the Jagan eye. "Why is that Kurama?"

Kurama studied the fire demon. Then something seemed to click. "You know. You know who it is, don't you?"

The demon nodded. "Don't even think that I am going to tell you, Kurama. This is your problem, not mine."

"How did you find out? This poem doesn't show up anywhere in any records for the Makai."

"That's because it's not a demon made poem."

Hiei watched as Kurama's movements began to become more fox-like. He had been right, Kurama was as intoxicated with Karasu as Karasu was with Kurama. 

"Where is it Hiei?"

Kurama stalked towards Hiei, causing the fire demon to step back involuntarily.

"_Where is it?"_

"On an island outside of Venice."

"And what is this island called?"

"The Island of the Dead."

Kurama froze. _The island of the Dead???_ That would imply... "Who is it Hiei?"

Hiei shrugged. "Most likely, it is the one you expect it is."

Kurama's eyes widened, but before he could speak Hiei had left the room.

Karasu's eyes noticed that there was something different about "his" room later that night, finally pinpointing the disturbance after a few seconds. Someone had burned a message into his desk. 

**He knows, work faster**

"Very well, Hiei," Karasu thought, "I'd wanted to move faster anyway."

Kurama fell into an nightmarish sleep, much later at night than was normal for him. Another oddity was that for once he hadn't finished his homework, but since there was no school the next day, he hadn't really cared about it. He couldn't concentrate, even in sleep. Karasu haunted his every thought. His voice murmured soft words so quiet that Kurama, though he strained to hear what was being said he could not make out the words. Karasu's figure seemed to flutter just on the edge of his vision, and whenever he closed his eyes the sight of Karasu falling dead onto the arena floor played over and over in an endless cycle.

A shadow entered the room though the still open window. As silent as a tomb the demon crossed the room to stand at Kurama's bedside. The fox was sweating, the demon noticed as he placed a white card on the pillow beside Kurama's head. A nightmare. Karasu lightly brushed vibrant red hair, now blood red in the moonlight, away from Kurama's face. Kurama whimpered and mumbled a word. Karasu smiled in the darkness. It was no nightmare that haunted Kurama. It was he that brought Kurama pain in the darkness. Karasu moved back toward the window, as silently as he had come, but stopped just inside the window sill.

"Sleep well, Kurama." he spoke and was gone into the night.

Kurama woke with a start, quickly moving to the window. Karasu's voice. He had heard it. Out of the low whispers which had surrounded him in his sleep came three words, words which he knew he had heard. _Sleep well, Kurama. _But, looking out into the night, nothing moved. All was quiet, almost too quiet for Kurama's strained senses. Frowning, Kurama turned back into his room and stopped short. He could feel Karasu, now that he wasn't concentrated on anything else. It was as if Karasu had been in his room. Traces of demon energy, Karasu's demon energy still lingered in the air of his room. Ignoring all logic, Kurama knew he had been right all along. Then something caught his eye, as he saw, outlined in the pale moonlight, a card if white paper with the image of a crow. Kurama hesitantly turned it over and looked at the four lines of poetry that stood out against the light color of the card.

_The Nightingale takes wing,_

_It's special song to sing,_

_Come follow me this night,_

_My grave will give you light._

That was it then, the poem was finished. Kurama threw human logic to the wind as he allowed only his Yoko instincts to govern his actions. It was clear what Karasu wanted, and Kurama hastened to comply. This would be settled, he vowed, tonight.

_Author's Notes:_

_**Rio:** And here it comes, the confrontation. _

_**Ryu:** By now you all know what to do. You all decide how fast the next chapter comes out. 7-9 reviews and you get what you want._

_**Rio:** Many things will become apparent in the next chapter, such as why Karasu enjoys spiking drinks with blood (something people have asked me about)... details next chapter. Oh, and the bit about the poem and the Island of the Dead is true, but I didn't want to ruin the story for all of you by putting a big disclaimer at the beginning of the story. See you all next chapter!_


	4. My grave will give you light

**On the Scale of Osiris**

_Chapter Four: My grave will give you light._

Botan hesitated before flying off, her oar hovering in the air a little ways above Kurama's head. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked one more time.

"Perfectly sure Botan. There's something I need to see."

"Then I can wait for you-"

"No." Kurama turned to smile at Botan. "I'll be fine, really."

Botan gave in, not understanding why Kurama suddenly needed to go back to the ruined arena of the Dark Tournament. But she respected Kurama enough to give him the benefit of the doubt that he knew what he was doing.

Kurama waited until he was sure that she had gone before he began walking towards the charred remains of the Tournament arena.

Nothing seemed to have changed from what Kurama remembered. It was all rubble from the arena's destruction. Kurama didn't even have the courage to scan the area, his human logic having long since caught up with his feelings. So what if he wanted Karasu back among the living for some reason that he still wasn't sure of, it didn't change the fact that Karasu was dead. Yes, it was about here that he had knelt, unfortunately in the "down" position so that the end result was that he lost the match in the Dark Tournament's eyes. Karasu looked down on the ground he stood upon. Here, right at this very spot was where he had unleashed the bloodthirsty plant that had destroyed Karasu. Kurama's eyes traced the ground where the shadow of the plant had fallen, the familiar scene playing though his mind. The green tendrils had speed along their course, growing bolder and stronger as they identified the source of blood which they hungered for. Kurama could almost see the tendrils even now, as if they were really there snaking their way towards the demon who was preparing to kill him, winding about his figure as the largest tendril attached itself to the small cut on his chest and began sucking the life source out of him. Kurama blinked as he watched the memory, but where the green tendrils faded as he looked at the real grounds, the figure did not. Kurama's eyes widened slightly. 

He didn't move, just watched Kurama watch him. Golden strands played about his shoulders in the small puffs of wind that didn't seem to notice the tension in the air. But finally he spoke, his voice flowing over the air as it had during the Tournament and in Kurama's nightmares, spoke the words that had haunted Kurama for three days now even though it seemed like an eternity.

"The nightingale takes wing, its special song to sing, Come follow me this night, my grave will give you light." The figure smirked, "But how could you find a grave that does not exist, dear Kurama?"

"Why have you come back to haunt me Karasu?" Kurama asked bluntly. "Going through all the trouble of possessing a human is a bit much even for you."

Karasu laughed, the sound that sent involuntary shivers up Kurama's spine. "Nothing as complicated as that, my fox. The spell is a good one, and there is nothing that power cannot come up with in the Makai."

Kurama frowned.

"You didn't kill me, Kurama. Think very carefully and you will undoubtedly come to understand. Do you remember exactly how I 'died'?"

"All to well."

"You must have heard your team's analization of me, that I drew my power into my own body. In this form, my heart actually stops beating so that the explosive power which I gather into myself can travel freely through my bloodstream and therefore effect all of the cells in my body. By this same token, when the now dormant blood is sucked out of my body, my organs continue to thrive on this same power. Had the Tournament not been so impatient to get to other rounds and clear the arena for the next fight, I would have died as my control would have lasted only so long. But-" a predatory grin became prominent on Karasu's face, "-this was not the case."

"And you were able to replace the blood you lost."

"I knew you would come to understand."

"That still does not explain the human appearance and power signature."

"Makai is ancient, Kurama, something you should know well. There are spells for everything, ways to make the impossible an everyday reality."

"There is no spell to make a demon a human."

"Quite wrong, but it is a fairly recent creation, so therefore something that would have passed over you as you were in the human realm. And something that would have passed under Koenma's radar as it is sold on the "black market", as all the humans would refer to it."

"But why go through all the effort just to bring me to this place again?"

Karasu smiled and Kurama felt a chill begin to work its way up his spine. 

"You should be able to figure that out as well kitsune." And part of him had figured out why Karasu had brought him here, and could only praise the demon for his resourcefulness, but the other half was only beginning to understand, as the other demon began walking slowly towards the kitsune.

"My people tend to live in seclusion, Kurama. Not that it is forbidden to leave and see the world, but we just normally choose not to. Sometimes I think my greatest error was leaving that place, but then sometimes I think I should go back and destroy it. You see, Kurama, it is very hard to live the same life style outside of our home. Everything is structured, from naming children, to teaching them how to fight, to mating. The last of which is the hardest thing to do outside of our race. The ceremony can be quite beautiful, at least in my mind. A challenge is set from one to another. If the challenge is accepted, they fight. No one has to win, and therefore no one has to loose, but blood must be spilt on both sides. Only then, after they have spilt blood for each other, do they mate.

"I am not your mate, Karasu." 

Karasu's eyes glittered. "Really? I doubt that. When you first had the vague idea that I might be alive, the thought consumed you. Don't deny it, fox, I watched it happen. By the time you had seen the poem in its entirety, you longed for your irrational thought to be true. You might not have known why, but you did."

His yoko instincts were practically howling for Kurama to just agree all ready and jump the human-looking demon that n ow stood only an arms length away from Kurama. And for the first time Kurama did not listen to his instincts.

"No."

Karasu's eyes glittered, "Then we'll see how long you last, kitsune, before you change your mind."

One week. One week had passed since Karasu had issued the ultimatum of "We'll see how long you last" and Kurama was now caught in the aftereffects. Karasu had completely vanished from Kurama's life and had left the kitsune utterly alone. It had taken a few days to see the results. He had started to stop caring. His grades had dropped enormously, and now his mother was worried too. But he would be damned before he let her take him to a shrink. 

Now, lying in bed, Kurama's eyes were locked on the dresser drawer in which were locked the only clues he had of Karasu's existence. And like some drug addict, Kurama was suffering. That's what Karasu was, Kurama had decided. A drug. Like a steady poison, the longing now flowed through Kurama's veins, urging him to do something, anything, to satisfy the need. It was just to much. It really was. 

"Well Kurama, you dug this hole, now you have to climb out of it." he murmured to himself. Karasu had offered him a way out and yet he had not taken it. Well, now he would. The only thing to do now wa to find Karasu.

Kurama stood and walked to the window Hiei was so fond of using instead of the door. Slowly at first, then gaining speed, his limbs began to lengthen. His hair began to lose it's color, the strands becoming longer and more wispy than his normal crimson locks. His eyes became cat-like and glittered with anticipation as he silently opened the window. The youko was on the prowl. 

Karasu stiffened momentarily sensing the sudden movement of his youko. A slow smile crept across his face. So his youko was coming. That hadn't taken as long as he thought it would. Moving away from the bar, Karasu walked towards his room. It wouldn't take the youko long to find him, but he might want a little help.

Once inside, Karasu let go of the spell that held him in human form, regaining his demon shape and power. He instantly felt the youko begin moving in his direction. Leaning against the wall, he waited. He didn't have to wait long.

Kurama barely fought with the lock on the door before it opened smoothly, revealing the room it had kept him from and the demon that he was looking for.

"Lock the door behind you, Kurama. We wouldn't want any humans to come in here, now would we?" The sensual voice drifted around Kurama's ears and the kitsune fought down a shiver. The door locked quietly behind him and he turned to look at the demon standing at the other end of the dimly lit room.

"What do you want, Kurama?" The question hung in the room for a moment, flitted around like a breeze, before Kurama answered.

"You."

The kitsune pounced, bringing his mouth down upon Karasu's own in a brutal kiss. Karasu's tongue slid along his in a sensual dance as the two fought for dominance. Breaking away slightly Karasu murmured, "Then let me give you what you came for."

Kurama growled as he was pinned to the wall, Karasu's lips and tongue working their way down his neck.

"Stop with the foreplay Karasu."

The demon's eyes glittered. "Now why would I want to do that?" Karasu found himself thrown on the bed with and irate and lustful kitsune on top of him.

"Because if you don't hurry up and take me, I'll take you."

Karasu easily flipped their positions. "Very well then."

Hiei's eyes shifted open and he stretched slightly. Then the fire demon the figured out what had woken him from his sleep and groaned. Sometimes the Jagan was too much, he decided. Well, in this instance he wondered if even someone like Kuwabara would be able to sense the spike in two demon energies. One screamed in a mix of pleasure and pain, as the other lapped up the blood from the bite mark he had just inflicted on his mate. Hiei smirked. At lease it made sense to him that if you felt all the "blood" draining out of your body at one time, you'd become a bit paranoid about making sure you still had blood in your body. Hiei shifted and turned over on the branch he was sleeping on. He could go say, "I told you so," to Koenma later. After all, he had understood what was going on long before the toddler had.

Koenma fought back the urge to groan as he looked at the fire demon across the room from him.

"I must say it's surprising that you would vouch for any demon's extended use of the human realm, Hiei, much less Karasu's."

Hiei didn't move. "Karasu and Kurama are bonded. To separate them like that for an extended period of time would kill them both." he spoke bluntly.

Of course that did make sense. Blunt sense, but sense. Koenma would never purposefully destroy any of those working for him, and now this meant making sure Karasu had contact with the human realm periodically. Damn it all.

"I will work something out Hiei. Karasu is a demon, and thus dangerous."

"So am I. So is Kurama."

"But while you both have proven yourselves trustworthy, Karasu has not." And will not for that matter, Koenma spoke under his breath. "I said I would work something out Hiei, and I will."

Hiei seemed satisfied and left. Koenma sat for a long time thinking. This development was something he would have to think over. Karasu would not allow harm to come to Kurama if he were to be allowed in the human realm, but Karasu had killed quite a few humans during his short stay... even if he had used conventional human methods. Yes, something would have to be worked out, and soon. Koenma could sense something bleak was approaching the human world, a feeling which he had started to have since a few weeks after the Dark Tournament ended. At first he had thought it was because of Karasu, but now it seemed that he had been wrong. The thing he sensed held more evil for mankind than Karasu did, especially at the moment, and it seemed to be growing. Yes, he would have to do some serious work to figure out exactly what was going on and to somehow work out an arrangement for Karasu and Kurama. Arg, he thought sullenly as he resigned himself to an afternoon of steady work. Why couldn't things ever be easy.

**The End**

_Author's Note:_

_Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, it meant a lot to me. But here's the question I'm posing to you. This story is finished, but as you all know, the post Tournament plot doesn't end there so... should I write a (longer) sequel that deals with the whole demon portal with the AU twist of Karasu being alive and mated with Kurama? Leave your thoughts in a review please! And we'll see what happens from there._

_signed,_

_Rio the FlowerofBlackFire_


End file.
